Work stress leading to social isolation of CRPF jawans: Report

New Delhi, Dec 11: Continuous deployment in "high intensity conflict areas" is forcing jawans and officers of country's largest paramilitary CRPF to suffer from large-scale "social ostracisation", a report prepared on the state of affairs of the force has said.

As per the voluminous analytical report prepared on the current status of the personnel of this three-lakh strong force, they also undergo trauma in marital and family issues and are unable to ensure good education for their children.

The report puts forth some damning facts about the "pathetic" living and work conditions as well as poor emotional and physical well-being of its men and women.

It states that while 80-89 per cent of the force remains on deployment at any given time, "80-85 per cent" troops remain continuously deployed to fight Maoists in 10 affected states (37 per cent), militancy in Jammu and Kashmir (28 per cent) and insurgency in northeast (16 per cent).

"Owing to extremely difficult and sub-human working conditions, the CRPF members are usually not able to fulfil their social obligations like attending marriages, deaths and other ceremonies in the immediate family and society. This creates a sense of isolation, hampers proper matrimonial alliances and they are ostracised from society," the report, accessed by PTI and submitted to the government for redressal, said.

Within the extended family too, the report said, since a CRPF jawan is "most of the time absent during social functions and ceremonies like marriages, betrothals, funerals and other rituals on account of his official commitments, he continues to be socially isolated even within his own family."

The report goes on to state it has been found that CRPF personnel even "have problems in finding suitable life partners for themselves and their children."

"Children are mostly deprived of adequate parental control. This has tragic consequences in many cases. Understandably, very few parents prefer their sons and daughters to marry the wards of the force personnel," the report added.

PTI